The Tale of Henrik 'Hiccup' Haddock
by commanderkaufman
Summary: Modern AU: What you hold before you is the tale of Henrik 'Hiccup' Haddock. He was chosen by his ancestor to complete his work and defeat a dragon tyrant. A bit of fantasy/supernatural (Henrik's ancestor communicates and helps him physically on his quest), some adventure, friendship, romance (what woild be a HTTYD tale whitout some hiccstrid) and a pinch of humour. T-violence
1. This Is Berk

**What you hold before you is the tale of Henrik 'Hiccip' Haddock. He was chosen by his ancestor to complete his work and defeat a dragon tyrant.**

**A bit of fantasy/supernatural (Henrik's ancestor communicates and helps him physically on his quest), some adventure, friendship, romance (what woild be a HTTYD tale whitout some hiccstrid) and a pinch of humour for good measure.**

**I don't own the characters. They are property of Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks, but since they're not on the list of people who don't want their work to be used in fanfiction I guess they won't mind.**

**Rated T because there'll be violence (including decapitations) in later chapters.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>In the far north, where summers are short and warmth is only found in alcohol, where winters see no sunlight, where the climate cold and the locals more so, where people know the true meaning of the verb 'to freeze' lies a relatively not so small town.<p>

This is Berk. Fifty kilometres of icy, unmaintained road (it's more of a path realy - now that I think about it it's not even a path) divide it from the main road and it's ten times as much air distance from any real civilisation. However, it's also the largest settlement in a hundred kilometre radius which means it is the region's economic, cultural and political capital.

We have fidhing and hunting (mostly fishing, there isn't much wildlife around theese parts). I should have you know that our town used to be most famous for whale-hunting. But now all that remains is an old museum that gets around six visizors a year (seriously, who would be as stupid as to go here on a holiday).

This is my home. What could I say about life here? It's tough. Realy tough. The mortality rate can be high since our hospital is small and competely outdated. But I can say that if you survive the first five years of your life you should be fine. Unless you're someone like me. You don't know me? Ah well, introduction time.

The name's Haddock. Henrik Haddock. Yeah, my family bears the name of a fish.I told you we were fishermen. Sorry, I'm getting off topic... where was I? Oh yes, me. So... I'm fifteen and attend at the local high-school (the only one in the region). I'm considered the most promising student of the generation. By the teachers at least. Otherwise I'm considered a mistake, a 'hiccup' (that's what most people call me by the way).

Why? You see, If I was born somwhere there in the wonderful south, where inteligence and ingenuety are values I'd be the most popular guy at school. Unfortunately I don't have that luxury like many people reading this might have. Here only the strong, tall people with long, braided hair and a forest for a beard (if we're talking about a male) survive. I'm none of those things (except for the hair and beard part - that seems doable, I might become respected for my brown hair and beard reaching to the ground if nothing less). I'm not very tall and am weak. Some say I remind them of a talking fishbone. I'm not very good at sports and even worse at trying to not look weak and awkward. My only strenght lies in my inteligence and that isn't a value in a society of norse fishermen **(A/N: sorry, norse fishermen)**

Most people don't notice me, but for those who do I just wish they didn't because they either keep reminding me of what a disappointment I am or they use me for a punching bag or whatever it is people use nowadays to lay off steam. Most do both.

This particular morning it's likely that even the school staff won't give me a break: my alarm clock didn't go off due to a black-out our town's been dealing with for the last few days. The thing that wakoke me up was sunlight which means I only had a few minutes before my first period starts. At least it isn't winter - I would have slept till spring.

I leapt out of bed and put my clothes (meant for a boy at least two years younger than me) before storming down the stairs and hoping not to run into my father on the way out.

But, as you may have figured out, I'm the mortal the gods have chosen to screw around with. Before I could reach the door a thundering voice stops me.

"Leaving without breakfast?"

Meet my father, Sigurd Haddock (people call him "Stoic tge Vast" after a legendary viking hero though), the mayor of this helhole. He's a war veteran. Some say that he can kill a man just by looking at them. Do I believe it? Yes I do. People say that he used to be happier. But ever since my mother died during my birth (remember what I said about the hospital?).

"You need to eat, Henrik, to grow into a strong leader."

Another thing about him. He always claims that I will one day become the gratest man alive...

"If you don't eat you'll always be like this - weak and disrespected."

...and then gives me the hatchet, saying that he doesn't like what I am now.

I don't know if I can blame him. I'm all he has left of my mother after all.

"Sorry, dad, but I'm in a hurry. Perhaps I could eat this on the way"

Before he could protes I grabbed some bread and ran out the door. My morning exercise continued as I crossed several streets, passed the workshop in which I would most likely spend the afternoon (what can I say - it feels like home in a place where i can invent stuff) befote I reached the harbour where the Berk high-school stood.

I entered the main hallway and quietly sneaked towards my locker. I took my coat off, grabbed my books and...

"Hey look, if it isn't poor little Hiccup running late."

Well shit. Just when I thought my day couldn't get worse. I turned around to lock my eyes with a boy a bit taller and more-than-a-bit wider than me. Meet Steiner 'Snotlout' Jorgenson. The greatest bully north of, well, anywhere. Also my cousin. Behind him were his 'body-guards', the Thorston twins Torbjorb and Ragna (or Tuffnut and Ruffnut), who were the only people dumber than him.

"Hey, Steiner, to what do I owe this pleasure?" I said, slowly backing away.

"No need to call me by my name. We're cousins, you can call me Snotlout." He was aproaching me, his fists ready to give me a good-morning punch.

Just when he was about to punch me he stopped. I didn't know why until he said: "Hey, Astrid!"

I turned around to see the girl that made my head spin. Meet Astrid Hofferson, the most popular girl in school and the most beautiful one this side of... anywhere. Athletic and clever, yet as cold as our winter. Among my peers she was the nicest to me. Meaning she ignored me.

She looked at us (I hope she was looking at Snotlout though) in disgust. "I'd get to class if I were you."

Phiew! Saved by the bell again. I quickly made my way to classroom 12. All was well until I remembered what we would be studying today. My first period was literature and we were learning about heroic epics at the time. And we were starting with the most popular tale in the north. The tale that told about the suposed ancestor of all the modern Haddocks, a warior who would make beasts shit their pants if they had them. I would never hear the end of it - me being a decendant of the great and mighty dragon master. Do you know what I speak of?

"The tale of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III..."

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><p><strong>So it begins ...<strong>


	2. Exposition time!

**Get ready for an overload of exposition!**

**secret love writer: They're somwhere in northern Europe**

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><p>"The tale of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," the professor started his lecture, "is one of the most famous epics of the dark ages."<p>

I could feel the other students mockingly glancing at me every now and then.

"It has seen many adaptations, but today we are talking about the scripture that started it all."

I could hear Snotlout holding back his laugh. I'm sure that if this wasn't the literature lesson he'd be laughing loud enough for the fishermen on the other side of the fjord to hear. Luckily for me our literature professor threatened everyone with cleaning his boat if interupted his lectures. You don't want to know the story behind that boat though.

"I'm sure everyone of you knows the story..."

Yes, everyone does, unfortunately for me. You see, the story is so famous that everyone liked to nickname themselves after it's heroes - Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, whom you've already met, my father after after the hero's equally heroic father, then there's Fiske Ingerman, or Fishlegs, the guy whom I sit next to - let me introduce you: this is Fishlegs, the only kid who used to be my friend. Note that I said 'used to'. We hung out in elementary and he was bullied as much as me. He also used to be as thin and scrawny as me. But then he had enough: he gained forty kilos in two years. He started standing up for himself (meaning he entered berserkr mode - the world disappeared in red and when he came back to his senses everyone around him was no more - whenever someone got him angry) and eventually Snotlout invited him to hang with 'the true Nords'. He accepted, probably out of fear of staying an outcast if he stayed my friend. Yeah, I know: some friend. Then we have Astrid, the girl who caught my eye the moment I first saw her. No need for a nickname, the hero's wife was actually named Astrid too.

And who's the lucky guy who bears the name of the hero? Me. Why? It's probably out of irony - since I'm a Haddock the first think anyone thinks when they look at my weak, small physique is what shame must my ancestor feel (also Snotlout once caught me eyeing Astrid and found it funny that the great Dragon Master's only mistake has romantic fantasies).

"... so how about smeone gives me a quick summary!" the teacher continued. He was always quite calm and friendly (if we ignore his threat).

"Mr. Haddock!" Oh great! Me of all people! "Since this is your ancestor we speak of here, would you be as kind as to summarise the tale in question?"

I stood up. Well, here goes...

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," I started, "was born on the island of Berk in the Barbaric Archipelago." By some strange coincidence our town is also called Berk. I actually never realy thought of that! Even the families from the epic live here. MUST BE A SIGN FROM THE GODS - that they try realy hard to torment me. "Even as a kid he'd show great potential both as a warior and a blacksmith. However his home was under a constant threat of dragons who raided them once every month for food." Did I ever mention how much I love tales with dragons? They are just glorious! And no, I'm not being sarcastic

"Unlike the other Vikings of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, Hiccup didn't see dragons as mindless killing machines." I could hear Snotlout snicker at 'Hiccup'. I'll never hear the end of this one. "One day he managed to down the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, the night fury, one of the rarest species of dragons. In secret he managed to befriend him. He named him Toothless out of irony of his mouth being filled with razor-sharp teeth." Though I'm sure that's not what happened there.

"He managed to convince his peers that dragons weren't mindless beasts and together they went to kill a queen dragon that was forcing the other dragons to raid her food from the Vigings." And lost his leg in the process.

I could almost see Snotlout forcing back comments about the differences betwen me and my ancestor. Hopefully I'll be able to escape the classroom before he decides to open the floodgates holding him back.

The professor nodded for me to continue.

"Over the course of the next few years he made quite a few friends and also enemies, both human and dragon, however he defeated them all with ease, making all who oposed him to tremble when they faced him in battle." Why did he have to be such a badass? So that I have to get a bad asskicking every day for not being like him, that's why. I find the tale highly implausible though. I mean, how could he single-handedly defeat an armada of five thousand bloodthirsty berserkir, even if there was a dragon by his side?

"Many years pass and Hiccup is suddenly old. The Viking tribes had made peace with dragons. There weren't any wars on the horizon and he was living happily with his wife, four sons and three daughters and some grandchildren had also been born. However, a new threat appeared - a dragon the size of a mountain saw that the friendship betwen dragons and Vikings was more of a master - pet relationship. He was called Furious and he started preaching to dragons about his findings. He told them that he was the messiah that would bring the dragon-kind to their rightful place as kings of the world." Wow, how original! We have ourselves a typical superiority complex villain here! "He even managed to enslave several human tribes for his cause. Hiccup then united the peoples of the Archipelago, proclaimed himself king and protector of man and declared war on Furious.

After years of war and several fabled battles, with Hiccup being poisoned by Furious they fled to the Dragon Sanctuary to make a final the Dragon Master decided that no mere mortal can kill Furious." Or no man alive, depending on the translation. You know how it can be with those. "So he devised the most desperate strategy. He had his tribe mystic Ruffnut..." Ruffnut would have cheered at this had she not been restrained by her brother. "... freeze all dragon-kind in time. Then he had himself killed in a bloody ritual which would endure that his soul would stay in this world and return into the body of a worthy Haddock when Furious would return." At least I know he wouldn't be needing my body. "His last words said, as depicted in the last verses, that when history repeats itself isthe time of the return," finaly finished. That was a lot of exsposition, wasn't it!

"Than you, mr. Haddock!" I sat back down, trying not to look in the direction of a particular group of brainless sorry excuses for humans.

The rest of the lesson consisted of reading certain verses from the epic and depictions of their scenes in several works of art.

"The most famous is probably 'The Master Faces Furious' by Painte R. Withabrush." Of course, who doesn't know that one. A painting of a man holding a flaming TWO-HANDED sword in ONE hand and a large blacksmith's hammer in the other. The man is dressed in an armour made of black dragon-scales, with a horned helmet (half of his mother's breastplate?) on his head. He is very muscular (ten feet tall with the strenght of a dozen men, as written in the epic). Behind him, in a shadow are two green eyes, looking in the same direction as him: the dragon no one had ever seen, the night fury. They are both facing a dragon at least a hundred times their size. He is as red as blood and there is fire coming out of his mouth and venom dripping from his teeth. It's Furious... Lucky me, I look a lot like my ancestor. Did I mention that gets me so many friends!

"It is currently in the possession of the Haddocks of Marlinspike hall* in Belgium."

Soon the bell rang and I stormed out of the classroom.

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><p>Ah, the dreaded final period for today: physical education. You may have already figured out that I'm not very good at sports. Well, the main problem is that our professor is a former national football player, which means he always insists on us playing the stupid game. And what a perfect way of kicking me in the legs this is. And avoiding the ball so that the others wouldn't have the 'I was going for the ball' excuse is out of the question since the last time I did it the professor wanted me to be the goalkeeper. Not the best experience. Especially since everyone seemed to be aiming at me and not the goal.<p>

During the today's game I could hear Snotlout and his gang taunting me with statements about me and my ancestor. Can't say I didn't expect it.

_The only mistake the Dragon Master has ever made!_

_What shame must he feel!_

_He covers his face, unable to look at other mighty wariors who look at their decendants with pride!_

_You sure you're a Haddock?_

_Maybe you were adopted..._

Etcetera.

After that I was glad to leave the dreaded building, not looking back. Knowing that my father wouldn't return home from work till midnight I decided to go to Gobber's Workshop. The owner Godfrid (whom we call Gobber) is a good friend of my father's. They fought side by side in the army, but while Stoick was lucky enough to make it through without serious wounds, Gobber lost an arm and a leg in an explosion.

Gobber lets me stay and work at his workshop and is the only one who actually has some hope in me. But even he had several times voiced his opinion on me building strange devices in his workshop (he's particularly concerned about my newest project).

I arived to the workshop to be met at the doorstep by a bald man three times my size (though everyone is three times my size, except for my father who is three and a half times my size) with a long blonde moustache.

"Ah, Henrik, you're here. I was just about to close the shop."

Another thing: Gobber is in the town counsel, meaning he leaves me in charge whenever he has to go on meetings.

"No need, I'm here now."

He let me in. "Lock up when you leave." he said. Since I'd spend a lot of time here he had made me the key. "And no more of that 'universe translocator' of yours. The today's blackout was enough."

"It's 'universal translator'. And how was I supposed to knoe it would need so much computing power!?" My latest invention was supposed to translate thoughts of any animal by reading it's brain activity.

"You know what I mean, lad. Try not to blow the place up!" he said before turning back to the door.

"And you don't let the door slam you on the way out," I said, waving goodbye.

He looked back at me and smiled... and bumped into the door on his way out. "You son of a..." was the last thing I heard before he closed the door behind him.

Gobber had always been more of a family to me that dad. He looked after me, listened to my ideas, he would (try to) comfort me when I needet it the most and most of all, he knew me as who I am. More than the teachers. He had always been the one to encourage me when I felt like giving up. He's the one I'll probably miss the most when I leave this town to go study to the university in the capital.

I started working on my translator, hoping to find a way to fix my problem. But I couldn't cocentrate. So after an hour or so I took my sketchbook and started drawing. Another thing I'm good at and another thing deemed useless around here. I'd draw anything but lately I've been mostly drawing Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and trying to picture myself in his shoes. Must be good being a strong hero everyone respects.

Movement outside the window broke me out of my ecstasy. A blonde teen riding her bycicle home. Astrid. Little does she know that I was the one who made that bike. I'm quite sure she'd throw it away if she knew it was from me. At least she likes it as it is. I turned back to my sketchbook and started drawing the godess on the bike.

...

I arrived home around seven. My father should have already finished his work and was now probably at the 'Mead Hole' bar. That left me to make myself some supper and maybe watch the news before going to bed. It seemed that the blackout problem was already fixed.

After my small lunch at school several hours ago I sure was hungry. Unfortunately all we had in the fridge was fish. Most of my diet consists of fish.

I turned the TV on, hoping to see some good news from around the world. However nothing had changed in the passed day.

"... war in Syria ..."

"... several victims of ebola ..."

"... corruption ..."

"... claims to have seen a dragon ..."

"... massive forest fire in central Europe ..."

"... famine ..."

"... overweight ..."

"... drought ..."

"... floods ..."

I decided to turn the TV off and go to bed early. Thinking that I wasn't doing good in my life wouldn't be right after seeing what is happening around the world. It's always the same: wars and hatred, natural disasters, people generally being stupid...

I just wish somenthing new would happen. Something that would get people together, make them forget about their differences.

Something that would make even me accepted.

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><p><strong>Ah, there we go!<strong>

***See 'The Adventures of Tintin' by Georges Prosper Remi (or Hergé)**


	3. That night everything changed

**It's not too long, but here it is. Enjoy!**

**secret love writer: Oh, that. It never clicked to me that you were trying to say that I'm German. Because I'm not. Isn't my country of origin displayed on my author page? As to how I got the idea: I think it started while I was playing Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Suddenly I started imagining ol' Hiccup doing those brutal finishers (I'm a little sick myself, thank you). Then one time while this was happening my thoughts drifted in the area of modern AUs. It slowly escalated from there (adding a spirit with a skill at sword-fighting, an ancient evil, etc.) and I published the prologue the same day. Bam!**

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><p>As much as I tried I just couldn't sleep that night. I tossed and turned in my bed for hours until I eventually gave up on the idea of resting. So I grabbed my mobile phone and opened the social network, hoping to find at least someone else online. Not that they would talk to me, I'd at least feel less lonely.<p>

After seeing that I was alone I decided to view the recommended posts. I skipped the 'that feel when no girlfriend' posts (I swear, I have no idea how those got on my recommended list) and found some article discussing whether dragons could actually have existed or not. It provided many arguements supporting their existence, but they weren't realy strong ones.

After I got bored of reading scientific articles I decided to check what had my peers posted that day. Unsurprisingly Sntlout had posted a picture of me next to the painting of my ancestor, entitling his post 'See the family resemblance?'. Things like that had happened several times already, so I knew what to do. Under a different username I gathered an army of people from a bunch of different forums to downvote his post in order to take it down from the site.

As I smiled to my victory I noticed that someone came online.

_Astrid_Hofferson is now online._

Astrid. The symbol of perfection. She can't sleep as well so she went online as well. Me and her, alone on the internet. Damn it, Henrik! You know you have no chance with her! Well, it's good to have dreams though. Especially for someone my age, growing up in all aspects, if you know what I mean. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!

My dirty fantasies were interrupted by a sudden notification.

_You have 1 private message from Astrid_Hofferson._

Wait, what? How is this even possible. Oh, now I know why I couldn't sleep. I had already fallen asleep and am now having the strangest, wildest dream ever.

You need to understand that Astrid hadn't ever spoken to me before, even in my dreams. So I actually have no idea what she thinks of me. I was in a dilemma wether I should open the message and risk getting heartbroken by a direct insult or leave it and ditch my only chance of talking to her.

Holding my breath I chose the former and opened the message.

_Astrid_Hofferson: Can't sleep after today?_

I exhaled, relieved that she hadn't decided to join the tormentors' side. She was only trying to find someone to talk to since she couldn't sleep and I was her only option. Or was I? She likely had several contacts all around the world so why was she talking to me?

_You: No..._

I know, not much of a reply. It's not like I knew what to say when you spoke to your crush for the first time. At least we weren't talking face to face, that would have been embarrassing.

_Astrid_Hofferson: I'm revising for the tomorow's math test, could you help me out?_

Is she just asking me for help? What happened today that made her talk to me? Those questions aside, I couldn't ever say 'no' to that request.

_You: Sure._

So I answered her questions an explained her the subject but I couldn't stop thinking about what might had happened that changed her views of me. After we finished she thanked me for the help but just as I was about to turn my phone off and go to sleep she sent a message that made my eyes grow wide.

_Astrid_Hofferson: You need to stand up for yourself._

I would if I could. Does she mean she believes I can?

_You: Excuse me?_

_Astrid_Hoffersoon: You neec to fight back. Do not let them bully you._

Could it be that she believed there was something in me, something that could make people respect me? I was about to ask her what she meant but a draught sweapt through my room. My father was home and he wasn't someone whom I wanted to aggravate right now. He was most likely drunk and wouldn't want to see me awake at this hour (if you don't sleep you'll never grow up to be a man people look up to). The last time he found me awake he told me that when I'll be in the army that won't be tolerated. Yes, he wants me to join the military.

Deciding that I had enough shocks for one day I turned my phone and lay down. Surprisingly, sleep soon took over me.

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><p>Meanwhile, Nordaustlandet, Svalbard...<p>

Drago looked around his base in pleasure. This project had cost him all his family savings bat it was worth it. Now that he was finished, he could start with his cause: world domination.

Drago was, how do we put it, a psychlogically disturbed individual who had seen some serious shit in his life. He had an abusive drunkard for a father whom his mother left soon after his birth, returning home to Yugoslavia. He saw the cruelty of man and it led him to forming his terrorist group, 'The North Dragons'.

"We are almost finished, sir." One of his folowers was reporting the day's work. He had to look up to meet Drago's gaze, as he was a tall, muscular man. He had long, black, dreadlocked hair and a beard. There were several scars decorating his face: a reminder that he was once ready to start a war on the world but was stopped by one man.

Seventeen years ago, when he for the first timd gathered an army his headquarters were attacked by the special forces led by his sworn enemy, lieutenant Sigurd Haddock. That attack destroyed years of work. But now he was back in business.

"Good. I'll be in the missile warehouse if anyone needs me."

Drago walked down to one of his warehouses, the one that contained his 'deadly nadders' and his 'gronkels', his 'monstrous nightmares' and the prize of his collection, the 'skrill'. Even as a child he was fascinated by dragons and all the tales that involved them. He especially liked 'The Tale of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III'. It gave him much inspiration. He liked the hero's strongest (human) nemesis, Drago Bludvist. He was inspired by his strenght over others and hoped to achieve it himself. With his bombs and his recent acquisition, the EMP, he will be unstoppable.

Even his followers were quite fascinated by the epic so some of them had adopted interesting code names: Alvin the treacherous, Dagur the deranged, Norbert the nutjob, just to name a few. What a sad bunch of looneys...

Drago didn't care though. As long as they were loyal...

The shaking of the ground broke Drago out of his thoughts. He wasn't expecting an earthquake. He ran outside where all chaos had broken loose. His men were trying and failing to remain calm.

"What's happening?" one of them asked before the earth cracked beneath him. He fell into the opening ravine, into the dark.

Suddenly a gant head, a dragon head, appeared. And then a long neck. And then great wings. Then the body. The legs. The tail.

Before them stood a dragon. It looked a lot like a monstrous nightmare, as they were depicted by artists, only it was dark green, had much bigger claws on it's wings and legs, it's tail ended in a sharp spike, it's eyes were as red as blood, it had twenty horns and four tusks twice the size of it's snout. And, not to mention, it was five hudred meters long and a hundred meters wide (fatty).

Scared, Drago's men started backing away. Their leader, however, stood his ground not showing his fear (it was there though).

"Who are you?" Drago asked.

The beadt moved closer to Drago untill his snout was only a few meters away from his face. Drago could see grean, venomous saliva dripping of the dragon's fangs. It's breath smelt like it had been eating shit and rotren corpses for the whole past millenium. The dragon then spoke in old Norse (which Drago understood, because he was obsessed with vikings).

"I! AM! FURIOUS!"

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><p><strong>And so, the dragons return... DUNN, DUNN, DUNNNNN!<strong>

**Just an explanation as to why Drago's mother isfrom the former SFRJ: so that I don't have to modernise his name and just keep Drago (it's a Slovenian/Croatian/Serbian name).**


	4. Stand up for yourself

**Here's yer chapter, filthy humans!**

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><p>I looked left and right before gesturing for the old lady to follow me across the street. She held on to my right arm with one hand and supported the rest of her weight with the cane in her other hand as we slowly crossed the road.<p>

The elder I was helping out was the gyðja (priestess) of the local Germanic neopagan church. One of the wisest people I know. Also the weirdest. She spends most of her time in the temple doing gods know what (probably conversing with _them_). What do I think? I believe that she is just another person who struggles everyday to survive in this world, just like anyone else. And she's come a long way in life, she's kind and humble so she deserves some kindness unlike some people I won't name.

When we crossed the street she turned to me and thanked me in the sign language. The poor woman's vocal folds weren't what they used to be. Consequently people rarely spoke with her. Is the sign language realy that hard to understand?

As I was about to say goodbye she took a hold of my right hand to run her fingers across it.

_'You're the Haddock's kid, aren't you?' _she aked.

"Yes." I gazed into her eyes. I had school so I hoped she had something relevant to say.

_'Yes, I can see it. The strenght of your ancestors runs through your veins'_

Oh great, she of all people decided to mock me. "Thank, you, thank you! I realy live up to the Haddock name!"

She understood my sarcasm and retorted: _'You may not see it now, but you are no different from him. You are the only one who deserves to carry Hiccup's name.'_

The confusion only grew when I realised she had said-... signed that with a straight face. What was she trying to say. I tried to ask but my voice got stuck in my throat.

Her eyes went blank as her grip on me strenghtened. She started moving her thin lips as if to mumble something in a language even I wouldn't bother to learn. She was having a vision and those should never be taken lightly.

_'The signs are here. It is time. You will lead us.' _Those were her last words as she turned around and continued her way to the neopagan temple.

I, confused more than ever, walked the other way, heading to school. What was happening? First Astrid last night, now the gyðja? Has the world gone insane? Well, insaner...

But her visions are never wrong! Does that mean I am destined to be somebody? Or had I just misinterpret her words?

Weird or weirder, I had no time to bother with the world's problems. I had school and that means...

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><p>"Snotlout!"<p>

I was standing in a corner, surrounded by Snotlouts gang. Apparently he wasn't very pleased about his post getting taken down for too many dislikes. Ylthough he didn't blame me he needed someone to take his anger out upon. Good thing there's a public punching bag in our school.

"What a pleasant surprise! How has your day been?" I spoke cheerfully, smiling and mentally preparing for the event that sould make my day.

"Shitty, cousin. First I fail at that math test and now I find many of my posts were disliked by a lot of people that I never even heard of. I mean, why would some, say, Australian go and dislike those posts?"

My back was to the lockers. Backing away was no longer an option. He was aproaching slowly, fists at the ready.

"And what were you talking to Astrid earlier for?" he added.

"She only thanked me for helping her study, nothing more," I replied, mentally adding 'and nothing less.'

"Well, just stay away from her! She's my girl!"

Yeah right, I think that even being asociated with this dumb ape in any way isn't what that girl is aiming for.

"Is she?" I replied, "Isn't the possession of another human being illegal now? Should I call the police?"

His eyes narowed at my comeback. He was trying to think of something to say to that but his intellect (or lack of it) restrained him, so he just said: "Shut up!"

But what Astrid had said to me yesterday overwhelmed me. So I decided to stand my ground.

"What? That's all you'll say? No useless, no 'Hiccup', no other insults you always come up with? Please, Snotlout, you disappoint me greatly!"

Cofused looks formed on the bullies' faces at my sudden straight pose. The crowd that had gathered around gasped in surprise.

"Will you resort to mere physical abuse because your verbal capabilities are comparable to those of a retard?"

Snotlout stopped his aproach, probably not because of my witty insults but because the words I was using weren't in his vocabulary. The crowd behind him was full of dropped jaws and some smiles.

After a few momentts of silence I continued: "What, did a cat bite your thongue? Say something!"

He grabbed my collar and slammed my back against the locker. "How about I beat you up!"

Oh great, now I've done it. "I guess actions speak louder than words, really," I resoonded weakly, closing my eyes and getting ready for pain. But suddenly my body seemingly had other plans as I subconsciously moved my right leg and kicked Snotlout in his genitalia with all my strenght (which wasn't a lot but it was enough for him to crumble to the floor).

The others even less sure what to think of this action I quickly ran away. Distracted as they were they didn't follow me.

* * *

><p>I left the school and headed to the town library, a place where I could clear my head and wasn't as loud as the workshop. The library itself was on the outskirts of town, away from the sea.<p>

Entering the haven of knowledge my mind drifted back to what had happened at the school. Even if I was so determined to fight back I would never cause physical harm to anyone, even if it was Snotlout. I had thought I nevefcould anyway. But back there it actually happened. And it felt strange. A if I wasn't even in control of my body. Like something, or rather someone, possessed me, taking control of my actions.

I shook my head. No, it was more likely just an effect of the adrenaline I was under. Now that that was sorted out I could look for some interesting books to forget about it.

Subconsciously my path slowly led me section through section until I suddenly stopped before the shelf with a collection of old Norse scripture written by none other than the Dragon Master. It's said that he had studied the world around him and gathered his knowledge in works that later fascinated both scientists and literati.

I scanned around the shelf and took several books that my teacher said might be interesting. There was 'Strategy Guide to War', 'A Study of Berk's Wildlife', 'Viking Culture' and many others.

My eyes stopped at 'Understanding the Opposite Sex'. Wouldn't hurt to have look...

'As a kid I once said I'd never understand girls. What a lazy child I was...' was a quote written on the first page. I remembered my teacher telling me that the Dragon Master once used the couples of his tribe to get a better understanding of how love works...

Next up was 'Smithing: past, present and future'. It was a study of weapon crafting to date and a prediction of what has yet to come. Surprisingly it's quite accurate: he had predicted steam power and modern-day weaponry.

And then there was the famous 'Book of Dragons', the most popular scientific study of mythical creatures. Although it's quite detailed the people still speculate about it being a work of fiction (myself one of them). In any case, it's still very nice to read and...

"I knew I'd find you here!"

Damn, I didn't know Snotlout even knew we had a library. I turned around to meet his killer gaze. Whatever made him this angry...

Before I knew it I was running for my life.


	5. The Aurora Borealis

**Here's yer meal, vermin!**

**Sorry I couldn't update earlier. I have other things to do than give you your trivial piece of entertainment. It had nothing to do with you shouting for more though. That wouldn't be very nice of me.**

* * *

><p><em>Run, run, as fast as you can!<em>

I've always wandered how an antelope feels when it is running from certain demise in a lion's stomach. But now I kind of wish that I didn't find out.

I was running as fast as my legs could carry me and a little bit faster when I stopped focusing on my physical limits. Basic survival instincts, caged by my 'humanity', were released and as adrenaline was pumped throughout my body my only focus turned to self-preservation.

Alright, what advantages do I have? I'm small and can thus manouver around obstacles easily while he is a, well, mass of unagile muscles. He's also pursuing me solo unlike some predators I could think of. And the disadvantages? I'm me: not exactly an athlete from Ancient Greece.

The chase continues out of the town onto the green plains with low vegetation. I needed to reach the bush before my lungs exploded and my legs broke.

Luckily for me Snotlout wasn't the most persistent person and would leave if he couldn't catch me.

We were now on the other side of the hill. We lost sight of the sea and Berk. Darkness filled the forest as the sun had set hours ago. This was the perfect place for me to hide.

Snotlout was having a hard time getting through the bush so I took the oppurtunity and took refuge under the shadowy vegetation.

"Where are you!"

Snotlout had lost sight of me. I kept my breathing steady and quiet, hoping he wouldn't hear me. He searched for me around the area until he stopped three metres away from my hiding spot. My heartbeat quickened as he looked in my direction.

"Screw this!"

He turned away, starting to walk back home. When he was far enough I sighed in releaf, feeling lucky that I will live to see another day.

I got up, ready to go home. I didn't head for Berk, however, deducing that Snotlout could be waiting for me somewhere, ready to attack when I'd least expect it. So I turned the other way, deciding to take a quiet stroll around the forest.

I walked through the low plantlife that represented the only forest in the near vicinity. Yes, this far in the north you won't find many trees.

The beauty of this forest was the lake in it's centre. Not many people come here, but if they did they would sand in awe of the stars' reflection illuminating the clearing. The full moon here around this lake is the definition of the beauty of nature. And don't get me started on how beautiful it is during the aurora borealis like tonight. If only I had a screen and some oil paints to capture it.

Or would they be awed. The people here have no eye for beauty. I bet they wouldn't recognise it if it came in the form of Astrid Hofferson flying in an aurora borealis in the shape of the statement 'this is beauty' over a sea of crystal-clean ice with a sunset in the distance, fireworks being fired on the top of a green grassy hill, the moon smiling (litterally) and dragons with riders upon them making complex aerial stunts through the fjord, breathing fire into different shapes before finaly landing and agreeing with everyone that it was awesome, before proceeding towards the town square to party and...

_crack_

Well thank goodness for that crack, I was running out of ideas! Wait a minute? What was that?

I turned my focus to the other side of the lake. Thanks to the illumination caused by the north lights I could see a strange object that wasn't there before. It was as black as night, nine metres long and fifteen metres wide. When I got closer I noticed it somewhot resembled a reptile, however I've never seen or even heard of a reptile this big. And it had it's enormous wings spread. Wait, wings?

It opened it's eyes. They were green eyes of a focused predator. It was alive. I started to back away. Just my luck, don't you think? I escapsd one predator only to fall between the teeth of the next.

It opened it's mouth. "Toothless?" I questioned. I expected such a beast to have enormous teeth.

I was wrong. it had teeth. Retractable, just like a snake's fangs. It aproached me, it's teeth now bare. This would be where I met my end.

I closed my eyes, preparing for the darkness. It never came though. I reopened my eyes to see the creature turned to the lake. I took this opurtunity to observe it's back side. I noticed something strange. One of it's tail fins seemed to be missing. The dragon was hurt.

Dragon? Is that what this thing is? But dragons are a thing of myth.

_"He's a beauty, isn't he?"_

That voice made me jump. Not only I wasn't expecting someone else to be here, but it also sounded as if they were talking inside my head.

I turned around to see a male glowing white figure. He wes 190 centemetres tall and not very wide. He was wearing armour that seemed to be made of scales, leather and metal. His face was covered with a short beard which was fashioned into two braids on his chin. He had long hair decorated with two small braids behind his right ear. It was evident that he's seen some serious shit as his left leg was replaced with a mechanical one and his right cheek was split in half by a deep scar.

_"They say he's the last of his kind, you know."_

The way he spoke was (beside the fact that he was glowing white) the thing that finally convinced me that I was hallucinating. I mean, first a dragon, then a, a ghost?

_"Too bad, the nighty fury realy is a beast to make even the gratest warriors soil their armour."_

I took a step towards him, inquiring: "Who are you?"

The spirit smiled.

_"Oh, forgive my manners! I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third," _he said, taking a bow, _"at your service."_

If there had been any doubt whether I was draming or not it was now gone. I mean, the spirit of my badass warrior ancestor finding me? Though he is smaller than I imagined. He was more than a metre short of ten feet and didn't look that mountain of muscle everyone talked about. But this is a dream so it doesn't matter anyway. So I just decided to play along.

"Nice to make your acquaintance! I'm Henrik Haddock, but people call me 'Hiccup'. So, to avoid confusion, if someone was to adress 'Hiccup', that would be me."

The Dragon Master smirked. _"Honored! There was no need to introduce yourself though, I've been following you for the whole day today."_

Great, the spirit of my ancestor now officially haunts me.

He leand towards me and whispered: _"Nice job with Snotlout! You should have seen the look on his face when he was getting up!"_

I smiled a little before my gaze fell. "It surely wasn't me..."

_"Hm?"_

"It felt as if I didn't have any control whatsoever over my actions. It just happened."

He stayed silent for a moment before he laughed out loudly. _"Oh, sorry, that was me!"_

"Excuse me?"

_"I just couldn't stand looking at the Jorgenson beating the Haddock again after all theese years."_

I wasn't sure what he meant. It was late and I decided to go home, ancestor or not.

_"Hey, wait up!"_

The spirit turned to the dragon saying: _"Stay here," _before following me on my way home.

_"Where are you going?"_

"Home, it's late."

His expression became serious.

_"You can't go home yet! We have a lot of work to do."_

"Like what?"

He put a hand on my shoulder.

_"You need to befriend the dragons. How do you plan on defeating Furious?"_

I turned to look at him, still walking.

"Look, I never asked for this. I'm just a kid. Besides, look at me! Do I look like a warior?"

He stopped me and took hold of my arms to examine them. He then proceeded to inspect every bit of my body.

_"Yes, nice! Agile arms, healthy... Your muscle is growing quite well. What about teeth? Looks good... The naughty bits... good."_

"What are you...? What do you mean? I'm most certanly not a warrior!"

He lifted his gaze from my lower area to meet my gaze.

_"Listen, Henrik, being a warrior isn't that much about having big muscles. It's more about having big balls."_

"That's easy for you to say. You're a strong warrior, though not as big as I imagined."

He sighed. _"You should know that I was a lot like you when I was your age, kid."_

* * *

><p><strong>Here you go, now write how shitty it is and how you demand the next chapter immediately.<strong>


	6. He Follows Me Everywhere!

I sometimes have realy weird dreams. But this night's dreams really went over the top.

I had just woken up and I could hear someone else was in my room. Most likely my father.

I quietly yawned. "Dad... I had the strangest dream. First there was this dragon and then the Dragon Master apeared, saying I am the chosen one or something. He told me to gather an army to fight Furious. And build a prostetic tail fin of some sort..."

I opened my eyes, expecting to see my father's either disappointed or confused face. But my father was nowhere to be found in the room. Had I just been imagining someone being in my room.

The room was cold as the window was open. I didn't remember opening it though. I turned to go and close it, only to find someone leaning through it. It was the ghost from my dreams. I stumbled back onto my bed, shocked, confused, a little bit scared... But not panicking, I swear!

The spirit turned to see my shocked face. He was smiling slightly.

_"Great reaction time you've got there! From midnight till morning..."_

"You're real?"

He looked around himself. _"Last time I checked..."_

I pointed at him with my right hand. "You're Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III?"

_"In the flesh. Well... flesh... you know what I mean."_

I sat up on my bed. "The Dragon Master."

He huffed slightly. _"I actually prefer 'Dragon Trainer'..."_

I stood up, reaching for him with my hands. "How...?"

As I touched him he laughed lightly. _"You weren't overreacting like this last night."_

"I was completely sure I was dreaming. Still, how is this possible?"

_"It's quite simple. You see-..."_

He was cut off by my alarm clock's ringing. It was time for me to leave for school.

"You know what, you can tell me after school."

I got dressed (trying to ignore the ghostly presence in my room) and headed downstairs for breakfast.

My father was already eating. I was about to join him when I noticed that the old Haddock had followed me. I looked at him questioningly.

_"Don't worry, only you can see me," _he assured.

"Good morning, son!" my father greeted. He was in a strangely good mood today.

"Morning!"

We ate in silence. We never had much to talk about, especially in the morning when I was in a hurry and he was usually suffering from a severe veisalgia caused by a night spent at 'The Mead Hall'. But today he wasn't as grumpy as usual. Something good must have been on his mind.

After a few minutes of silence he spoke: "Son, we need to talk."

"Yes?"

He took a bite of his bread and continued: "I heard what happened yesterday at school."

Silence filled the room. I stared at him, unsure of what might follow.

However, you need to remember that Berk praises physical solutions to arguements over a more civilised approach. So I shouldn't have been that surprised when my father laughed heartily.

"You're not mad?" I asked.

"I was a little mad when I heard about it," he replied. "But I couldn't stay mad. You're finally becoming a man!"

Behind me I could hear Hiccup huff. _"I already see where this is going."_

"And I thought you were a weakling! Ha!" He stood up. "Wait here! I have something for you."

He went to his room to get something. I turned back to Hiccup who was smiling in amusement.

"Enjoying the show? You think it's funny? You have no idea how it feels to have such a father!"

He laughed. _"Oh, but I do. That's what makes it even more funny watching the whole thing from third person perspective."_

I was about to say something but my father came back holding something covered in cloth in his hands.

"I kept this ever since I left the army."

He removed the cloth revealing an old submachine gun.

"This is MGV-176," he said. "A dying comrade gave it to me, making me promise to 'kill the sons of bitches', back in the Yugoslav Wars. A good friend of mine. Alvin was his name. Oh, he was like a brother to me. We knew each other since basic training."

My father had kept a gun from a war? And he's not in the army anymore? Is this even legal? This gun is nowadays used by armed police forces for the gods' sakes.

"I want you to have it and remember what I said once you join the military."

If I wasn't already shocked I was now. He wants me to follow in his footsteps?

_"Well, shit!" _Hiccup said somewhere behind me.

"But dad," I finally replied, "I don't want to join the army!"

"Oh, but you will when you finish high school..."

"No dad, you don't understand, I'm a pacifist! I couldn't harm a fly!"

_"That's it, keep trying to get him to listen!" _Hiccup commented again.

"... So, do we have a deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one sided," I said. I could have sworn Hiccup mumbled the same words to himself as well.

My father was still expecting an answer, not having listened to what I had said. And he wouldn't take 'no' as a satisfactory response.

"Deal..." I finally half-sighed.

* * *

><p>It was annoying. It was stupid. It was getting on my nerves.<p>

No, I'm not talking about the fact that my father never listens to me. What's currently bothering me is the fact that my ancestor had decided to follow me around.

He's always full of those sarcastic comments. Yes, I realise I can be quite sarcastic myself. But I cannot stand a sarcastic person that isn't me. It just annoys me.

We were just leaving school after a long day of me discretely explaining anything he didn't understand. And you can expect that he had a lot of questions. Even though he had been watching over the Haddock dynasty, he had been dead and unable to communicate for more than a millenium.

Just as we were walking through the front exit a certain girl called to me.

"Hiccup!"

_"Yeah?" _THE Hiccup responded before realising the girl was talking to me.

The girl was none other than Astrid. Why was she interested in talking to me? No idea.

"... Hey!..." Sorry, I had no idea what to say. Should I go for the casual approach, be 'in-a-hurry', be a 'cool guy in a leather jacket' or the 'educated snob' (although I was none of those things I was quite good at impersonating them, along with 'drunken fisherman' which I'm sure we all agree wouldn't fit the situation). I couldn't do any of them anyway because it seemed like a cat bit my thongue everytime I wanted to talk to this girl.

"That thing you did yesterday," she started upon reaching me, "wasn't what I meant by sticking up for yourself... But it was pretty cool."

I looked at her wide-eyed. "Cool."

"Snotlout was so humiliated that he hasn't dared to talk to me ever since. I guess I should be thankful: it was quite refreshing not getting a message from him every ten minutes asking me out."

If there was something Snotlout couldn't be convinced to do it was to stop hitting on Astrid (and hitting me for that matter).

"Uh... you're welcome?"

_"Come on Henrik, man up! She obviously likes you!" _I swear, if that spirit won't shut up I'll...

"Hey," she said, "I was wondering if you could give me a hand with mathematics again. I still can't seem to understand it all."

Oh, she's asking to spend some time with mee... studiing, but still. Ok, don't cock this up!"

"Ok, the time is 15:00," she said. "What abou, say, 18:00 at the library?"

I was silent for a while before answering: "Sure..."

* * *

><p>I was walking back to the forest with Hiccup. After a while I broke the silence.<p>

"Say, what did you mean by 'she obviously likes you'?"

_"You mean you never noticed. In class she kept glancing at you, she smiled everytime you gave answers to the professors and then she asks you to help her study? Those should have been all the signs you needed to realise she considers you at leas edible."_

"No, no and no. Helping her study doesn't mean anything because it's just that: helping her study."

He sighed. _"Have you read my study on dating? It seemes that some of my books were conserved up to this day. You should read it."_

"Didn't you use the couples on Berk as test subjects?"

_"Now, first of all, it was my wife's idea and it only started as a plan to find my second-bon son a date. But then I started noticing that in the caos of love there are rules, laws that dictate every small detail of the process. Just like with everything else: it seems caotic but everything has a couse and effect. Everything happens for a reason."_

"To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction."

_"It is the same with you. We are here together for a reason. Now I heard how distorted my story has become over the ages, so I'll have to tell you the eye-witness version."_

We reached the forest and headed for the lake.

"Can I ask you something?"

_"You just did."_

"What did you mean by 'it being you' when I unintentionally kicked Snotlout in the groin? Does it have something to do with 'watching over the Haddocks?"

_"No, you are simply the only one I can interract with and that can include using your body for my purposes. Though I did keep an eye on the Haddocks over the years and I must say that I'm quite proud. Many of them were notable people, like jarl Halfdan the Wise or sir Heinrich the red, sir Francis Haddock* or general Igor Haddock of the Red Army who fought against the Norwegian general Håkon Haddock."_

"Ok, back to the point: could you use that to teach me self-defence?"

_"I guess I could do that. But look, we're here!"_

We arrived back to the lake. Ghe first thing I noticed was that the place was now crawling with dragons.

Hiccup sat down and coughed to get my attention.

_"Looks like I'll have to teach you quickly if theese dragons want to have any chance against the tyrant..."_

* * *

><p><strong>*Hergé's Adventures of Tintin<strong>


	7. The Haddocks and the Royals

**Hope you like exposition!**

* * *

><p>Long, long ago, before the humans sailed into the north seas, the dragons ruled the land. They lived peacfully and prosperously, for they were protected by the magnificent alpha races: the Bewilderbeasts, Red Queens , Night Furies and various others. They would oversee the dragons and keep them from harm of any sorts.<p>

However, they were mere servants to the true alpha race, the master-race: the Divine Royals. Considered gods by other dragons, these Dragons (capital D) ruled over all. They were rare, for they would only mate once in a lifetime and lay only up to three eggs.

And so, life was peaceful for the dragons, the only wars being the rare political struggles of the royals which were usually settled in a duel. But then a race the dragons had only known from legends settled northern Europe. They weere rather small compared to most dragon races. Their skin was soft, as it wasn't covered in scales and wasn'g covered in fur so they had to take it from other animals. They were mockingly named 'Softskins', 'Naked Mammals', 'Infants', even 'Won't-survive-in-the-wilderness-es' by the dragons for seeming so feeble compared to other creatures. These were the man-kind and the dragons were wrong to not consider them a threat.

Nobody alive knows who started the war, but one thing is certain: it would last for centuries due to both sides' stubborness. The chieftains of humanity declared that all dragons need to be eradicated and the Divine Royals declared that the extermination of man-kind is in order. The fighting lasted for decades but in the end the dragons retreated from continental Europe due to most of them not even knowing what they were fighting for. Humanity celebrated victory but the war wys far from an epilogue.

Centuries later a group of North Germanics decided to seek new lands away from the shores of the continent. They found a group of islands they named the 'Barbaric Archipelago'. However, that was the home to the dragon royal race. Old wounds were reopened as war started again.

As war raged, a man whose blood would change the world was born. Born a bastard to a lowly maid, he was despised by his family and was accordingly named 'Hiccup'. Unable to find love in the household he soon began attending rather unpleasant circles. He formed a gang of missfits called the 'Hairy Hooligans'. They were a gang of troublemakers and, as the cheif would say, Hiccup was truly a 'Horrendous' man. In the end they were so despised that they decided to steal some weapons from the forge, 'borrow' a longship from the harbour and set sail into the unknown.

The jurney was harsh. The food was scarce (for some reason they only had haddock to eat - they took to calling their leader 'Haddock' for that). Just when they thought that they were finished they spotted land on the horizon. The fools were unaware that it was the home of the Divine Royals.

As soon as they landed they were attacked by the guards. The island was coated with blood ("Fear not, lads! It's their blood!"). However, the Royals were unable to attend the battle as they had mostly grown fat and lazy over centuries of living in a cave under the island. And so our hero, Hiccup 'Horrendous Haddock' charged for the caves and slew all of the royal family. Only one remained, running away with an egg. Hiccup chased it to the far shore of the island. The dragon threw the egg over the cliff to one of the guards to carry it to safety. Then he turned to the Viking. Full of anger over his dead family he charged towards the bastard. But anger made the fat Dragon blind for the large betk tree he hit, stunning him just enough for Hiccup to finish him.

"I shall call this island 'Berk', for it was a berk that secured the victory to the Hairy Hooligans and me, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock!"

A settlement was built and Hiccup the Conqueror was elected chief. The dragon society crumbled. Leaderless, the alphas were no longer united and were divided into two groups: on one side were those who questioned the war with humans to begin with and seeked ways for a peaceful conclusion, while on the other were Royalists who hoped for a king to return and make the humans' lives as miserable as possible. One such dragon was a Red Queen who lived on a volcanic island close to Berk. She ruthlessly forced nearby dragons into her service in order to raid the Vikings. She was so ruthless that even the lowly dragons, who usually followed the alphas without question saw her as a tyrant and, along with the humans later, called her the Red Death.

And what of the egg? It was carried to Svalbard, a place where the wisest of dragons lived: old royal advisors, wariors and explorers. The egg was safely kept there for a time. Lacking the warmth of a Divine Royal, the egg hatched three centuries later. The hatchling was trained by the wise dragons so that one day he could take revenge on the one who took his family: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. Cursed be Hiccup and all the Haddocks!

Coincidentally or not, a certain Hiccup was born into the Haddock family at the time: yours truly, the third of the name Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. A rather scrawny and physically inferior to the other Vikings. But in a lucky turn of events I met my first true friend, killed the Red Death, got the girl, basically, I did a zero-to-hero. And I was happy. I had a life ahead of me and good friends, brothers-in-arms to back me up at anything.

I went through the good and the bad: I helped make peace with the Outcasts, beat the Berserkr tribe (twice), helped the other tribes make peace with the dragons, but I've also lost my father in a war - made me think twice about going soft the next time I was in the midst of battle. But overall, my life was full of... well, life!

However, all was about to change. It was on my fiftyfirst spring. It was a rather sunny day and all seemed fine. But just after lunch a messenger arrived from the north. Several tribes had been wiped out. The messenger was the only one that was left alive. He was sent to bring a message to me, declaring war on me and all that would follow me. It was from the Divine Royal, elaborately nicknamed 'Furious'.

A counsel of chiefs was called, inviting all the tribes of the Archipelago and the great dragon nests to discuss this great threat. It was notable that many chieftains declined the invitation, deciding to surrender to Furious and serve him was a much better idea than getting brutally murdered allong with their tribe. On the meeting, the remaining chiefs and dragon alphas (with a bunch of grumbles from the Berserkr chief Dagur, still humiliated by having to sign a peace treaty at the tips of our Berkian blades) decided to form a united temporary state that would fight the Royalists. T my displeasure, I was given the honour of being elected king of this state and given all the responsibilities of a war chief.

The war raged for fifteen years and after that the northen lands were left with desolation and death. I attacked the enemie's fortres in Svalbard. But there was no way we could win against a dragon that grew up with the sole goal of subjugating everyone and everything. Most of my comrades dead and myself wounded from a venomous bite from Furious I ordered a retreat to the Dragon Sanctuary. I was desperate: it seemed that no man alive could defeat that beast. Then it hit me: no man alive! Suddenly I had a cunning plan!

I had Ruffnut dig up some spells in the book we got from Alvin the Treacherous's mother, Excellinor. The plan was to use magic to defeat Furious but the only spell that could be used in our situation was one that could send an entire race further in time. For some reason it said that an individual couldn't be sent further in time because of 'plot reasons' or something. It was decided then. The dragons would be sent into a time when a warior like me would live and I would stay on this world, not leaving to Valhalla until my work was done.

After I was seperated from my body and the dragons disappeared my children started debating what should be done about the Petty Kingdom of the Barbaric Archipelago. As many chieftains had died it was obvious that new ones needed to take their place. And my sons and daughters saw no one mor suitable than themselves. But the crown of the Archipelago was the problem. By all rights the state should have been disbanded. But instead my heirs fell into conflict about who should inherit the crown. Instead of peace, the Archipelago was now a land of conflict between the new seven branches of the Haddock dynasty. It got so bad that after two centuries of war the gods had apparently had enough and sank the entire Archipelago with an earthquake.

The rest you already know: the Haddocks scattered around the world, one of them even founding this new Berk. But now it's time: you are my heir.

.

_"So, that's that!" _he finally finished.

"Interesting..."

He got up. _"We still have some time before your 'date'. I'll show you some basics about working with dragons."_

I got up as well and streched my back. "Before we start, just one question. Doesn't 'Dragon Trainer' sound a bit lame?"

He opened his mouth to answer before realising he didn't know how to retort.

_"Remind me not to go easy on you!"_

* * *

><p>"AAAAAAARRRRRGH!"<p>

"RRRRROOOOOAAAARRRR!"

The past day in the secret base in Svalbard consisted of yells exchanged between Drago and Furious.

"They get along quite well, don't you think, Savage?"

"They should: both of them are filled with hate for humanity, Beast."

The monozygotic twin terrorists, Savage and Beast, were sitting a safe distance away from the bonding process between two monsters. Just in case they decided to seek common interests like torture or murder.

"So, are you ready for that mission?" Savage asked.

Several days ago they had recieved word from one of Furious's spies. They claimed that the Dragon Master has appeared and they were in secret training dragons.

"Yes. Since it's almost dragon mating season if you believe what Furious was saying, the Dragon Master will haave no dragons to defend their master."

The two brothers smiled. It was their time to prove themselves. They would take a team to Berk and ruin their celebrations on the 24th of December.

If the Dragon Master is a protector of all Furious's enemies, he's bound to show.

* * *

><p><strong>There are quite a few other stories in this, like the adventure of Hiccup the Conqueror, the War or even the 'Game of Thrones' of the Archipelago. I might sit down to write those one day!<strong>


	8. How the Dragon Master Saved Snoggletog

„General Jorgenson, sir!"

The soldiers saluted general Sten 'Spitelout' Jorgenson as he entered the room.

„You'd better have a good reason to have called me here! I was supposed to leave for the celebrations."

It was Snoggletog and the general much desired to spend it with his son.

„We have detected an unidentified object flying around the premises."

„Any idea what it might be?"

„No, sir, but it looks like one of those dragons everyone's been talking about lately."

The general observed the dot on the radar, it's movement as fast as a jet's.

„Send our jet and shoot it down. The pilot needs some practice," he ordered before leaving the Berk Military base.

* * *

><p>„You said we'd go nice and slow!"<p>

Hiccup chuckled behind me as we shot along the shore. We had finally gotten the saddle and prostetic tail fin done and were now, after weeks of work, taking our first flight. And it seemed this dragon wasn't going to waste the oppurtunity.

„Relax, will you!" came a synthetic voice from the universal translator. After months of work and several, ahem, 'hiccups' it was finally working. Toothless would at first complain about having to have all those cables on his head, but it made working with dragons much easier. Speaking of communication...

„Tell me, old man," I said, „how can you communicate with Toothless? I thought you could only communicate with me."

„_I think it has something to do with a strong brotherly bond I share with him. Excellinor's book of mysticism mentioned something about that..."_

An aeroplane passed us. A military plane.

„Show off!" Toothless said.

„You're the one to talk!"

Thd plane turned to face us. Then it fired a missile at us.

We all yelped as we just barely dodged it.

„Ok, Toothless, now's your chance to show us the true speed of a Night Fury!" I exclaimed, forgetting about 'nice and slow'.

The chase was on. With a plane on our tail we flew around the general area of Berk. The pursuit was quick and unforgiving, with several near-death encounters. A strong shockwave stroke us as we broke the sound barrier. Not having the time to question whot gives this dragon such speed I manouvered Toothless to evade another shot. The speed... I should be thankful for those old pilot's goggles I once bought.

Why were they attacking us? Unless... Of course, an unregisterd flying object, no way to reach it by any form of communication... Why did I forget about the military base?!

* * *

><p>Berk was preparing for the celebration of Snoggletog, a holiday typical for the region. Implemented due to a mixture of the Christian, Old Norse and Sami communities inhabiting the region, it consists of at-home celebration and also some local traditions. The most notable ritual is gift-giving: people would buy presents for certain people and anonimously leave them under a decorated pole in the town square. Then, around eight, everyone would gather for the mayor's speech. Afterwards the presents would be handed out before everyone was invited for a drink. The party would last until the morning (it was usually prolonged until that bare sunrise they had this time of the year).<p>

I, for one, never participated in theese celebrations. I would usually stay at home, perhaps watch an airing of some concert. But this year was different. This year someone urged me to come.

After weeks of tutoring Astrid we became close acquaintances and she asked me to participate in the celebrations. I bought her a present, though I don't believe it's much.

After nearly losing our heads instead of our pursuer we landed by the lake. It was quiet as all the dragons had left to mate. Well, except for Toothless of course. Hiccup and I wished Toothless good night and set for Berk.

The cold wind beat against my face as We entered the town. I wrapped a scarf around my face tightly. I was wrapped in many layers of cloathing and I wouldn't be surprised if I was unrecognisable.

As we entered the town square, however, something was off. There were no sounds of cheer, no sign there was a celebration going on. As the square came into view it was clear why. Seven armed men were aiming at the crowd yelling something at them.

„So, where's your Dragon Master!?" I heard one of them shout.

„_I guess they're looking for us."_

I looked at Hiccup, pulling myself together.

„We need to help them. But how? Even with your help I can't fight a bunch of armed men."

„_Remember when I asked you to tell a few Terrible Terrors to return earlier?"_

* * *

><p>Savage was growing impatient.<p>

„Alright, we'll give him another hour to show up!" he decided.

„While we wait we could open some presents," Beast suggested.

One of their men picked up a present. „For 'Gobber'..." He opened it. „... a pair of underpants?"

„Must be some inside joke..." another terrorist suggested.

The man threw the present away and grabbed another.

„This one's for the mayor... a book: 'Calm Down'?"

Savage scanned the crowd lying before him. „Are there any normal people in this town?"

They kept on digging through presents until they suddenly came across...

„...Astrid Hofferson. She's got... whoah!" The terrorist threw the box away. „That was inappropriate. Whoever this Jorgenson kid is, he might want to change his attitude if he ever wants to get a girl."

„There's another one for that Hofferson," Beast said, picking it up. „Let's see... wow, 'Art of War' by Sun Tzu!" He turned to the crowd. „Whoever gave her this must know her a lot better than that other creep. He might even get to _know_ her. Nudge, nudge!"

„At least there seem to be some respectable people around theese parts," Savage commented.

He took another present. „For Henrik Haddock."

Beast spat. „The boss hates Haddocks. Burn it."

Savage was about to set it on fire but...

„Hold it right there!"

On the other side of the square stood a shadowy figure, dressed in a thick layer of black-and-red winter clothing. A scarf, hood and goggles masked his face.

„You needed me for something?" the figure spoke again.

„So, you're the Dragon Master," Savage figured the figure's identity.

„No, I'm the president of Nigeria!" he said before making a break for it.

„After him!" And the whole group was off.

The terrorists chased the Master around Berk before arriving at the fish warehouse in the harbour.

The terrorist were reluctant to chasing the mighty Dragon Master of the old tales into a barely lit building but Savage ordered: „Come on, it's only one man. Go on in, me and Beast will keep a look-out here until you're done."

Swallowing, his five subordinates entered the warehouse. Silence engulfed the docks, the waves the only sound. Suddenly a lud scream was heard from the building, followed by yells of agony.

Savage and Beast turned towards the entrance, only to see one of their men escaping the building with five small dragons, Terrible Terrors, biting and clawing at him. One of them had bit his ear off, another was pulling at his hair, one had his right arm in it's mouth, the fourth apparently found his anus interesting and the last was just takinf care that the villain would never have children.

„Dragons!" he weakly exclaimed before hitting the ground, loosing consciousness due to the ammount of pain he was caused.

Savage and Beast looked at each other, terrified at the scene.

„Well,..."

„... that's our cue..."

* * *

><p><strong>I sincerely hope this is ok. I just had the urge to make a holiday special.<strong>

**Speaking of which, happy holidays, vesel Božič, all that crap...**

**Brace yourselves for flying cars, 2015 is almost here!**


	9. Grandpa Old Wrinkly

**I'm back!**

**Hope you had a wonderful holiday. Because now it's back to the miserable, tough, cruel reality. May this offer you the much needed relaxation from all the world's woes. But don't overdo it. I don't want to be responsible for creating mindless escapists. Or do I? MWAHAHAHA!**

* * *

><p>„This is a fine mess!"<p>

Savage and Beast had just returned to the base in Svalbard. And the boss was not pleased about them returning empty-handed.

„You can say that again, bro!"

They were leaning against each other while limping out of Drago's office. Their boss was an old-fashioned man and considered physical punishment a good way to keep his men in check. He usually carried punishments out himself and you can believe that he can rip your skin off with a whip in one strike. Savage and Beast got five, though it would seem like he went easy on them. Probably dud to the fact that he had a new hobby: torturing men that weren't his subordinates.

„No, please, let me go!"

Two armed men dragged a captive passed the twins.

„Who's that?" Beast asked.

„Haven't you heard?" was Savage's reply, „The boss and his new dragon friend share a passionate hatred for the Haddocks. I'm affraid it sucks to be one if you happened to fall in our organisation's clutches."

True, Drago preferred to maim his captives rather than his men. He needed those, but 'laying off steam' can quickly find it's way into his schedule. That's where an occasional Haddock came in.

Furious, lying in the central part of the base where some buildings were demolished to make him some space, sadistically laughed as the prisoner was brought before him.

„Glad you like it!" Drago said as he joined his ally. He wouldn't admit it, but he admired the great dragon. His sadism, his hatred for the Haddocks, who had wronged him as well, his general evilness. To Drago, Furious was a god, a guide and his first real friend. Someone who understood him, who shared the same hatred for humanity as he did.

„Found him in my dungeon. I remember kidnapping him, hoping for a ransom. But it never came. So I put him with the other 'failed operations' and just sort of forgot about him. Until now."

„LET'S SEE HOW LOUD CAN HICCUP'S OFFSPRING SQUEAL!" Furious roared. But then he remembered something. „Speaking of which, what of the Dragon Master? After that failure... I hope you will do it my way this time."

„Yes, yes, we'll do it your way. I've found a perfect guy to infiltrate the Berkian community," Drago grumbled, putting a hand on the dragon's snout. „Code name: Dagur the Derranged. He'll get there, find the Dragon Master and... retire him."

„KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME, YOU DAMN DIRTY HUMAN!" Furious furiously roared, lifting his head away from Drago's hand. „AND QUIT COMPLAINING. YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME IN THE FIRST PLACE BEFORE EXECUTING THAT STUPID PLAN OF YOURS. I AM A DRAGON, I AM SUPPERIOR TO YOU IN EVERY WAY!"

Drago chuckled He loved getting his new friend angry. He admired his fury.

„Okay, that aside, let's have some fun with mister Haddock, shall we?" Drago suggested, getting a roar of approval from Furious.

„Bring up the mangler! Bring up the bone-breaker!"

* * *

><p><em>Name: Dragon Master - army<em>

_Followers: 38_

_A new era is here. The dragons are back and not all of them are friendly. Furious is gathering an army. So should we! Join me, the Dragon Master, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III's heir!_

_This is the account from which I shall oversee the counter-attack against Furious. Everyone is welcome to join, from janitor to goverment. We need all the help we can get if we want to defeat the dragon tyrant._

_Latest posts:_

_-25. 12._

_Just yesterday, I was attacked in Berk by a group of terrorists searching for me. Had it not been for my dragons I would be dead. Such attacks will become common over the course of the following year. Join me today to prevent them! Join the Dragon Master's army!_

I sat back on my chair. My account had gotten a few followers over the past few weeks and I expected more as the time went by and I made more public appearances.

„_Are you sure this will work?"_

Hiccup was with me, as always. He had advised me to start gathering an army several times, but only after that attack had I started taking it more seriously.

I opened a sketch programme where I had my Dragon Master costume drawn.

„_So you're still planning on... that?"_

I looked at him. „On what?"

„_Not showing your face."_

I sighed. „We've been through this, old man. Until I get enough followers the people shouldn't know that the Dragon Master is an undergrown teenager."

„_I guess you're right..."_

Smiling I turned back to the screen. The suit was designed to be elegant while at the same time allow quick and acrobatic movement (I wouldn't want all that training with Hiccup go to waste). It consisted of a pair of leather leggings and a long overcoat, both black and strenghtened with dragon scales. A night fury would be painted in dark red on my right shoulder and several pockets and holsters would be discreetly stitched onto the suit, enabling me to carry tools and weapons with me while retaining an intimidating look. Straps were also obligatory as I was planning on riding in this. A black pilot's helmet with small metal dragon spines out over the middle lane. My face would be masked by pilot's goggles and a black scarf with a bottom half of a dragon skull painted in dark red upon it.

„_It is pretty good..."_

„You haven't seen it all. I will also wear a chainmail shirt under it. The helmet also needs to be strenghtened. I just need some of that Gronckle iron you've been talking about."

He twirled his braided beard in deep thought. _„I have a better idea. There's an alloy even stronger than Gronckle iron. Rhinoback steel."_

I stared at him in awe. „Aren't Rhinobacks extremely aggresive? How could you even get it to consume the right minerals?" I remember from his teachings that Rhinobacks are one of the rare species that eat humans.

„_Let's just say a cart of cheese was involved. They don't like it, remember?"_

I can imagine...

„Anyway, how do we find one?"

His gaze fell to the ground. _„The Rhinoback is extinct. I... I killed the last one."_

I looked at him questioningly.

„_When war began they all joined Furious. He promised them as much man flesh as they could eat."_

The war, as he had told me numerous times, was so devastating that tribes were wiped off the maps and several species of dragons went extinct.

„So, what now?" I asked him.

„_I had my children store a few ingots with my personal belongings, along with my sword, armour and body. However, I'm affraid that I lost track of the chest long ago..."_

We both went silent. We were about to forget the whole thing when suddenly I remembered something.

„Wait, did you say with your sword? And body?" I asked.

„_Yes. Why?"_

„My grandfather once told me that his father took him to see those. But I can't remember where he said they went." I turned to him. „It's time we pay Old Wrinkly a visit."

The old Viking smiled. But then he shook his head.

„_Actually, it's time for your date with Astrid."_

I looked at my watch. It was already 17:45.

„Shit, I almost forgot!"

I took off for the library quickly, but taking time to remind Hiccup of something.

„And it's not a date, by the way. It's a weekday meeting focused on discussing school subjects."

* * *

><p>Tutoring someone can be very rewarding. Especially if you're tutoring someone you like.<p>

After weeks of studying in the library together Astrid and I had gotten well acquainted. After about an hour of discussing school our conversations would slowly turn to our personal lives.

Astrid was, so to say, a tough girl, but not in the way the other Berkians were. While they solved problems with brute force, she would take her time to lay out a plan, to strategise upon the problem... then apply that brute force to the right places.

She knew how to fight too. Her father was a police officer and he allowed, no, ordered her to practise martial arts and gun-shooting at the police station.

During the attack on the 24th of December her father got injured trying to stop the terrorists. And since then he had been staying at the hospital and the Hoffersons weren't that well off.

You see, the Hoffersons used to be a succesful and respected family due to owning the biggest fishing boat in the area. Captain Finn Hofferson, also known as 'Fearless Finn', led many profitable fishing trips. But then, one faithful night, it all came to an end. The ship was lost, sunk in the greatest storm we had seen on the coasts of Berk this century, along with her captain. Since then, most of the family's income came from Astrid's father and you should know that the police are highly underpaid.

„So, how have you been doing of late?" I asked her after closing my books.

„Oh, you know, mum's working a lot while dad's still at the hospital. Snotlout came by yesterday. I pretended I wasn't home. You?"

„The usual. Going about my business. Snotlout expressing his disapproval of me daring to speak to, ahem, 'his girl'..."

„Again? When will he get it?"

At this point Hiccup proceeded to make a comment (which of course only I could hear): _„She's more into guys with brains. There's a specific one she meets every weekday."_

And those comments were the down-side of theese so-called 'dates'. Old gramps wouldn't shut up with his 'advice'.

„Guys like him make me puke. If he is a guy," Astrid commented.

Relief ran through my body as I realised that... _„Most guys around here are like that. And you are not one of them."_

I sent Hiccup a glare to find him looking at me irritatedly. _„When will you get it? Ask her out already!" _he said.

„Will you excuse me for a moment?" I asked Astrid. „Nature calls."

„Go ahead."

I made my way to the toilets, Hiccup close behind me. I locked the door and turned to him.

„Stop doing that!" I exclaimed.

„_Stop doing what?"_

„Stop being my personal life's deus ex machina!"

„_Excuse me?"_

„You seem to want to solve the, ahem, 'hiccups' in my life! It's okay for you to train me, prepare me for Furious, but please, stay out of my personal life!"

He sighed. _„If you wish... Alright, I'll stay out of it, as much as it pains me to see you do the same mistakes I did."_

Disregarding that last comment I returned to Astrid.

„I hope you don't mind if we cut this short," I told her. „I have to visit my grandfather at the hospital."

„That's okay. I'm visiting my father at the hospital as well. Let's go together."

* * *

><p>Now, my grandfather isn't the oldest Berkian. But even though he's only sixty he looks more like ninety, mostly due to his addiction to tobacco and alcohol. It made him look old and wrinkly, in case you were wondering where his nickname came from.<p>

„_You introduce Astrid to your grandfather and you'll hear the things I told you."_

Shut up, Hiccup! I realy don't get him! When will he realise I don't need his help!

Astrid and I entered Wrinkly's room, Hiccup close behind us. We were greeted by a dull, gray, empty room with a bed. My grandfather lay there, several medical instruments, mostly made in the previous millenium, pluged, stitched and stuck to the sickly old man's body. That's where his addictions had brought him. Just half a year ago he was hospitalised for lung cancer, barely functioning liver and a very foul mouth. Well, not for the last one, that was a reason to get him out of the house.

„Who goes there? Is that you, nurse? So you've changed your mind about my suggestion?" a weak voice asked. My grandfather... I don't want to know what he meant with the suggestion.

„No, it's me," I answered. „It's Henrik."

He looked at me (not exactly at me, his sight was fading away) confused. „Henrik who?"

„Henrik, your son's son!"

He thought about it for a little. „Ah, yes! Henrik, my lad! You haven't visited in a while!"

That's true, no one had visited him for months. I had barely any time, while dad, on the other hand, was just waiting for him to pass away. He saw no point in keeping him around any more.

The old man then turned to Astrid. „And who is this fine lady?"

„Oh, that's Astrid Hofferson, a good friend of mine."

Astrid waved to him. „Nice to meet you, sir."

„Oh, Henrik, you naughty boy! That's youf girlfriend?" Did I mention his hearing wasn't that good either? Ignoring my protests that I had said 'good friend' he continued: „Well, I can't say you lack taste. And a Hofferson too! Which reminds me, how's Finn, that little, trouble-making, drunken,..."

„He died nine years ago," I reminded him.

„... brave, strong, best sailor of Berk. Sorry to hear that."

I turned to Astrid, who was apparently still shocked by being called my girlfriend. „I suggest you go and see your father. The awkwardness will only escalate around here."

„Okay." She opened the door, ready to leave. „See you tomorow!"

As she closed the door silence filled the room. That is until Hiccup opened his mouth.

„_Three...two... one..." _

Before I realised what he was counting down to, Old Wrinkly asked: „I want to see some great grandchildren befor I die!"

If I wasn' blushing before I definitely was now. „Grandpa! We're just friends. And we're only fifteen!"

That made him laugh. „So? Your grandmother and I were that age when we had you father."

„Yes, but it was diferent!"

„How? It's true, we barely knew each other when we woke up one day, together naked in bed with a severe headache and no memory of the night before, but I don't see the diference."

I facepalmed at that. Wow! Just wow!

„_I told you,"_ was Hiccup's comment.

Then I remembered why I came. „Hey, grandpa! Do you remember that time your dad took you to see the supposed possesions of the legendary Dragon Master?"

He wrinkled his already wrinkled forehead in thought. „Ah, yes, I remember. It was summer 1967 at Marlinspike hall in Belgium. An exhibitoon of 'whatever we found in the cellar' was organised in honour of Archibald Haddock who had passed that year. Why did you need to know?"

I didn't answer. I was already on my way out. „Bye! And thanks!" And I was off.

* * *

><p><strong>Before you say anything, I realise Old Wrinkly was Hiccup's mother's father. But here he's not. BECAUSE REASONS!<strong>


End file.
